Recently there has been much debate about organ donation, in particular the desperate shortage of Asian and black donors to cope with the demand for transplants from members of these communities. We are increasingly being urged to carry a donor card, so that when we die someone else can have the gift of life. In fact, so keen is the government for us to put our names on the organ donor register that various intensive media campaigns have been launched to get us and our next of kin on board with the idea.

But now an alarming trend has come to light – the controversial, but technically legal, practice of buying and selling organs, and this is thought to be especially prevalent in the Asian subcontinent.

India has been described as a hotspot for such ‘organ bazaars’, with a particularly disturbing trend in the sale of kidneys. The average monthly income of an Indian manual worker is approximately $11 (£5.60). The country has a large proportion of people living in abject poverty, which has contributed to the booming trade in kidney sales. In the last five years, more than two thousand kidneys are said to have changed bodies. Of the total kidney transplants, almost 10% are thought to have been carried out solely for commercial purposes.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, October 2002) 96% of donors in Chennai have been forced to sell their own organs because of financial necessity.

In 2002, a survey found that 305 kidney donors in India received an average of $1,070 (£612) each. After the operation, almost all reported a decline in their health (JAMA, October 2002; quoted in Real magazine).

Commenting on the issue of organ sales, Deepak Mahtani, Organ Donor Campaign Director at the South Asian Development Partnership says, “The indiscriminate buying and selling of organs is exploitative of poor and deprived communities.“

"The body was never intended to be used as a commodity and this could lead to a 'prostitution' of the human body. It will open up much abuse and should be stopped by the authorities.”

This excerpt is taken from an article entitled: The Body Snatchers, which was published in Asian Woman Magazine, in July 2007. For more information about Asian Woman Magazine and its other publications, visit: www.asianwomanmag.com.